Scottish Executive

Child Care

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will allocate sufficient funding to local authorities that is not ring-fenced for specific programmes to enable them to sustain frontline child care services and fill any gaps that might develop.

Euan Robson: The Scottish Childcare Strategy aims to provide affordable, accessible, good quality child care in all neighbourhoods.

  To enable local authorities to address the aims of the strategy at a local level, the Executive has allocated Childcare Strategy funding totalling over £29 million in the current financial year and over £40 million in 2005-06. This money is not ring-fenced.

  Local authorities are responsible for allocating this funding at a local level to address local need including any identified gaps in provision.

Child Care

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in developing a national strategy for kinship care.

Euan Robson: Social Work Services Inspectorate has commissioned research into kinship care in Scotland as part of a wider review of services for looked after children. The research will be published as soon as it has been received by Ministers and the Executive will consider whether there is any action needed following publication.

Community Transport

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support community transport schemes that ensure access to health services.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive has allocated budgets totalling £2.3 million to support over one hundred rural and urban community transport schemes in 2004-05. Community transport schemes normally provide access to health services as part of their wider remit. In a few cases, schemes provide only health-related transport.

Education

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in reducing class sizes to 20 at S1 and S2 for mathematics and English.

Peter Peacock: Very good progress is being made.

Education

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will raise standards of educational attainment in schools.

Peter Peacock: Educational attainment will be raised by putting the individual learner at the centre of all we do. The recent publication Ambitious, Excellent Schools set out a range of actions to heighten expectations, give more freedom for teachers and schools, greater choice and opportunity for pupils and better support for learning.

Flood Prevention

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the £89 million increase in funding to local authorities for flood prevention schemes over the next three years is used to deliver sustainable flood management objectives.

Lewis Macdonald: Section 2 of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 requires Scottish ministers, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the "responsible authorities" to promote sustainable flood management, subject to social and economic considerations. In practice this means that a local authority will need to demonstrate that sustainable flood management requirements have been fully considered in the development of a flood prevention scheme.

  The Executive is currently giving consideration to the designation of responsible authorities under section 2 of the WEWS Act, and aims to issue a discussion paper in the near future, with a view to designating in spring 2005.

  The National Technical Advisory Group on Flooding Issues (NTAG) was set up in late 2003 to discuss flooding issues and offer advice to the Executive on the preparation of technical guidance for local authorities looking to take forward flood prevention schemes. NTAG is also offering the Executive advice on the meaning of sustainable flood management and associated objectives. The outputs from this work will underpin the technical guidance on flood prevention schemes and will ensure that local authorities are aware of their responsibility to deliver sustainable flood management.

Flood Prevention

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that its departments adopt a fully integrated approach to deliver sustainable flood management under section 2 (4) of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003.

Lewis Macdonald: The National Technical Advisory Group (NTAG) on Flooding Issues was tasked with producing a definition of sustainable flood management (within the meaning of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003) that would be acceptable to all stakeholders. The Executive has adopted a partnership approach to produce a first draft of a workable definition, objectives and principles. Work has also begun on how we might measure the objectives and principles and a first draft of measurable indicators will be ready shortly. Information on NTAG’s work, including all papers submitted to it, are available on the Executive’s website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/ERADEN/ACEU-AQT/00016919/NTAG.aspx.

  The outputs from NTAG are consistent with the Executive’s overall policy on sustainable development. We aim to present the outcomes on sustainable flood management more widely across the Executive in the new year. Thereafter, the conclusions will be subject to public consultation later in 2005.

Flood Prevention

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to link sustainable flood management with other existing and forthcoming policies, such as the reformed Common Agricultural Policy schemes, to deliver sustainable flood management in the most cost-effective way.

Lewis Macdonald: Sustainable flood management is a developing subject area internationally; the inclusion in the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 of a duty to promote sustainable flood management has set an example for other EU member states to follow. Through the National Technical Advisory Group on Flooding Issues (NTAG) we are working with stakeholders to ensure that not only do local authorities, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and other responsible authorities promote sustainable flood management but that we can also measure how sustainable our responses are. NTAG has produced a draft definition, objectives and principles for sustainable flood management, which will be presented to a wider audience within the Executive in the new year. This will ensure that links are made to other policy areas with the potential to make a contribution to the effective implementation of sustainable flood management.

  One such area is agriculture. The Executive already operates agri-environment schemes which include measures which contribute to reducing flood risk on agricultural land. Work to develop Land Management Contracts, following reform of the CAP, will seek to build on these schemes, and to consider a wider range of issues related to land management.

  In addition, we will continue to work closely with key stakeholders on groups such as the River Clyde Corridor - Flood Risk Management Strategy Co-ordination Group to achieve the most sustainable solution.

Gambling

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the introduction of any super casinos in Scotland

Tavish Scott: Whatever the UK regulatory framework, the position of this devolved government is that new casinos in Scotland will only be agreed if they are licensed by Scottish licensing boards and regulated by conditions set by Scottish ministers.

  In addition, the UK Government announced on 16 November that the number of regional casinos in the first phase of development will be limited to eight. Scottish ministers will be consulted about the location of any regional casino in Scotland.

Housing

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being taken to increase the availability of affordable housing in rural areas.

Malcolm Chisholm: We have increased our investment in rural areas this year to £80 million which will fund more than 1,400 affordable homes. Other important measures include the development of new models for low-cost home ownership and action to improve land supply for affordable housing through land-banking and the preferential use of land managed by Forestry Commission Scotland.

Justice

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in establishing a system of police warnings for young offenders.

Cathy Jamieson: Guidelines were issued to the police on 21 June setting out the arrangements for a national system of restorative police warnings. These guidelines have been backed up with the investment of £727,000 over two years to ensure that senior police officer warnings are replaced by restorative warnings across Scotland by April 2006.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9341 by Cathy Jamieson on 19 July 2004, how many unrepresented accused persons have conducted their own trial in sheriff courts since April 2004.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table

  

 
April to October 2004


Aberdeen
2


Airdrie
0


Alloa
1


Arbroath
1


Ayr
2


Banff
3


Campbeltown
2


Cupar
0


Dingwall
0


Dornoch
0


Dumbarton
2


Dumfries
2


Dundee
0


Dunfermline
0


Dunoon
0


Duns
2


Edinburgh
1


Elgin
1


Falkirk
0


Forfar
0


Fort William
0


Glasgow
4


Greenock
2


Haddington
2


Hamilton
1


Inverness
2


Jedburgh
0


Kilmarnock
3


Kirkcaldy
0


Kirkcudbright
0


Kirkwall
0


Lanark
1


Lerwick
0


Linlithgow
1


Lochmaddy
0


Oban
1


Paisley
3


Peebles
0


Perth
0


Peterhead
0


Portree
0


Rothesay
0


Selkirk
0


Stirling
2


Stonehaven
0


Stornoway
1


Stranraer
0


Tain
1


Wick
0


Totals
43

Legal Aid

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applicants making challenges under the European Convention on Human Rights have been funded through legal aid.

Hugh Henry: A recently published research report showed that the number of cases in Scottish Courts involving the European Convention on Human Rights has dropped in recent years. No comprehensive figures are available on the number of such cases where the applicant is legally aided.

Marches

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to complete the review of marches and parades.

Cathy Jamieson: The First Minister commissioned Sir John Orr to carry out an independent review of the arrangements for marches and parades in Scotland. Sir John is due to submit his report around the end of the year and it will be published shortly after it has been received.

Mental Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers to be best practice in the delivery of mental health services.

Rhona Brankin: The Executive considers that best practice is demonstrated where service users and their carers are involved in the assessment of needs and development of an appropriate care plan and where the range of interventions from preventative measures to community and hospital based care are available.

NHS Waiting Times

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how the increase in funds allocated to "national priorities including waiting times", as referred to in Draft Budget 2005-06 will be spent

Mr Andy Kerr: In the coming weeks I will announce full details of the new plans and targets that are made possible by the increases in investment in the health and community care budget, including improvements to waiting times, the speeding up of diagnostic services and the bringing of quality health care to those who need it.

Police

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the pilot scheme to pay special constables in Grampian and Tayside.

Cathy Jamieson: Special constables make a valuable contribution to the community. I welcome this pilot scheme which runs throughout 2004-05. We are monitoring progress and a final assessment will be made in early 2005.

Pollution

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that its departments adopt a fully integrated approach to deliver the most effective controls for diffuse pollution under the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003.

Lewis MacDonald: The Executive has opened discussions with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and other interested parties in how diffuse pollution should best be controlled. It is envisaged that the mechanisms of control will develop an integrated approach to provide an effective and consistent service.

Prison Service

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will issue a detailed response to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prison’s report into Aberdeen’s Craiginches Prison.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) have already published their response to each of the Chief Inspector’s recommendations on the SPS website.

Prison Service

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what research is being undertaken into the issue of access by prisoners to mobile phones.

Cathy Jamieson: Prisoners are not allowed to use mobile phones whilst in prison as this is a significant threat to prison security. The Scottish Prison Service are working with a number of other agencies, including the Police Scientific Development Branch, to develop more effective ways to detect mobile phones.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual running cost was of each prison in each year since 1997.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  It is not possible to provide the annual running cost of each public prison as there are a number of significant costs which are met centrally for the SPS as a whole. The annual running cost of private prisons are in the SPS Annual Report and Accounts copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 34446, 4045, 7929, 18239, 22587, 28640).

Public Appointments

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what appointments are being made to the board of the Scottish University for Industry.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish University for Industry will become an Executive non-departmental public body with private limited company status from 1 April 2005. The Scottish University for Industry was established in 2000 and has made an important contribution to learning in Scotland through its learndirect scotland  services and collaboration with a wide range of partners involved in post-school learning. Recently it has marked the 500,000th call to the learndirect scotland  helpline.

  As a result of changes to the corporate structure of the Scottish University for Industry, it is the responsibility of Scottish ministers to make board appointments. Accordingly, and after an appointment process following the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland, I am making the following appointments. All appointments have effect from 1 November 2004:

  

Billy Allan as Chairperson
to 31 October 2008


John Ramsay
to 31 October 2008


Asif Haseeb
to 31 October 2008


Anne McNeill
to 31 October 2008


Bill Stevely
to 31 October 2006


Brian Curle
to 31 October 2006


Ralph Palmer
to 31 October 2006


Jayne Stuart
to 31 October 2006

Rail Network

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive why priority has been given to the Edinburgh airport railway link over schemes such as the Borders railway.

Nicol Stephen: It has not. The Executive is supporting a very significant number of major public transport projects, all of which are at different stages of development. This does not mean that one project has a higher priority that the other.

Rail Services

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with First ScotRail to improve the frequency of services and the amount of rolling stock available on the Prestwick International Airport to Glasgow Central route in order to reduce overcrowding.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive and First ScotRail are both members of the Prestwick Rail Improvement Group which I announced during my visit to the airport in September. The first meeting of the Group, led by Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive, will be held on 16 December.

Recycling

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support the replacement of the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution scheme for recycling farm plastics.

Ross Finnie: No. That was a pilot project. Any further support would be likely to be an illegal state aid since it would undermine a commercial business operating in this area.

Renewable Energy

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to support biofuel production as a renewable energy source.

Allan Wilson: The main means of support for biofuels is through tax relief. Cuts in fuel duty for biodiesel and bioethanol have already been introduced by the UK Government, and further steps are being considered.

  In Scotland, we have also boosted this developing sector by providing £1.2 million towards the building of the UK’s first large scale biodiesel production unit.

Residential Care

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many care home residents have a deferred payment agreement in place with the appropriate local authority, broken down by local authority area.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive surveyed local authorities in June asking them to provide, amongst other information, details of the number of deferred payment agreements, and other similar arrangement in place at 30 June 2004. The following tables shows the information received.

  Deferred Payment Agreements as at 30 June 2004

  

 
Number of Deferred Payment Agreements
Number of Alternative Agreements


Aberdeen City
7
Not offered


Aberdeenshire
Not offered
7


Angus
No return received
No return received


Argyll and Bute
Not offered
14


Clackmannanshire
None taken up
Not offered


Dumfries and Galloway
No return received
No return received


Dundee City
None taken up
16


East Ayrshire
None taken up
17


East Dunbartonshire
Not offered
1


East Lothian
None taken up
1


East Renfrewshire
Not offered
No records held


Edinburgh, City of
2
Not offered


Eilean Siar
No return received
No return received


Falkirk
1
No records held


Fife
None taken up
Not offered


Glasgow City
None taken up
43


Highland
None taken up
12


Inverclyde
No return received
No return received


Midlothian
None taken up
None taken up


Moray
Not offered
1


North Ayrshire
None taken up
19


North Lanarkshire
No return received
No return received


Orkney Islands
9
Not offered


Perth and Kinross
13
Not offered


Renfrewshire
No return received
No return received


Scottish Borders
No return received
No return received


Shetland Islands
Not offered
2


South Ayrshire
No return received
No return received


South Lanarkshire
Not offered
Not offered


Stirling
Not offered
1


West Dunbartonshire
None taken up
No records held


West Lothian
None taken up
3


Total from 24 authorities
32
137



  Source: Survey of local authorities June 2004.

Road Safety

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve road safety on the A82.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is taking action on a number of fronts: -

  A Route Accident Reduction Plan study for the A82 from Tyndrum to Inverness has been completed and the recommendations are being considered for early action.

  A Route Action Plan has been commissioned on the A82 which will seek to identify measures to improve road safety and reduce journey times on the route. The study will be carried out on the sections between Tarbet and Crianlarich and North Ballachullish and Fort William.

  In the short-term we are committed to four structural maintenance schemes at Tarbet – Weavers Cottage, Weavers – Kenmore Wood, South of Inveruglas and South of Inverarnan giving a total investment of £3.1 million.

  The first of the schemes, south of Inveruglus estimated at £800,000, is programmed to start on site in February 2005. The other schemes will start during the current three year programme but the timescales of the programme can be subject to change.

  In addition, the annual accident analysis of the trunk road network is underway in order to identify and prioritise sites for investigation. The A82 is included in this exercise and any remedial action required will be carried out in 2005-06.

  As you are aware I have arranged to meet with you on 16 December 2004 to discuss your concerns about road safety on the A82 and the measures which I have set out in more detail.

Roads

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to publish the findings of the public inquiry into the proposals for the A96 Fochabers to Mosstodloch bypass.

Nicol Stephen: The report of the public local inquiry is currently under consideration and every effort is being made to announce a decision soon.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources in total have been estimated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to be necessary to fully implement the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 in each year from 2005-06 to 2009-10 and, in particular, what resources have been made available for (a) river basin management planning, including the setting up of national and area advisory groups, (b) monitoring duties for the water environment and (c) regulation of controlled activities.

Lewis Macdonald: The estimation of resources that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) consider necessary to implement the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 is an operational matter for SEPA. The resource allocation to SEPA is covered in the answer to S2W-12202 on 25 November 2004, to which I refer the member.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp.search.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources have been made available to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in the spending review to implement the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 in each year from 2005-06 to 2009-10 and, in particular, what resources have been made available for (a) river basin management planning, including the setting up of national and area advisory groups, (b) monitoring duties for the water environment and (c) regulation of controlled activities.

Lewis Macdonald: Subject to parliamentary approval, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has been allocated resources of £32.57 million, £34.57 million and £35.57 million respectively in each of the three years, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 covered by Spending Review 2004. This funding will be paid as grant in aid which will be supplemented by income from charges where this is appropriate. The funding is not ring-fenced for any specific purpose, but is intended to cover the whole range of SEPA’s duties including implementation of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 (WEWS). It is a matter for SEPA to determine what proportion of its overall resources is to be devoted to the individual activities it will be required to carry out to secure full implementation of WEWS. Resource allocations for 2008-09 onwards will be a matter for determination at future spending reviews.

Scottish Executive Funding

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive why it has not allocated funding for the Scottish Centre for Learning Disabilities in the budget for 2006-07.

Euan Robson: The Consortium for Learning Disability was initially funded from October 2001 for a period of three years. The funding was subsequently extended to March 2006. Future funding will be considered in the forthcoming year.

Sheltered Housing

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many properties were converted into sheltered housing complexes by local authorities in each year since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

Teachers

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the shortfall in primary teachers is in each local authority area in order to implement fully reductions in class contact time in line with the McCrone Agreement.

Peter Peacock: The reduction in class contact time was taken into account in previous teacher workforce planning exercises. The Scottish Executive is not aware of any education authority being unable to introduce the agreed reduction.

Teachers

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers have left the profession in the last five years other than for retirement or health reasons.

Peter Peacock: The information requested is set out in the following table:

  Teachers Leaving the Profession, 1998-99 to 2002-03*

  

Year**
Maternity Leave
Domestic Reasons, Resignation for Reason Where Return to Teaching is Likely
Teaching Post Outwith Scotland
Death, Dismissal, Registration Withdrawn, Resignation for Reason Where Return to Teaching is Unlikely
Other Reasons and Reason Not Known


1998-99
538
323
73
109
242


1999-2000
961
483
107
174
383


2000-01
696
284
111
134
395


2001-02
646
329
77
176
323


2002-03
618
380
81
176
516



  Notes:

  *Figures include local authority pre-school, primary, secondary and special schools and are headcount not FTE.

  **Years relate to period from 1 October to 30 September.

Teachers

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many learning support teachers have been redeployed in each local authority area to provide cover in order to implement a reduction in class contact time in primary schools in line with the McCrone Agreement.

Peter Peacock: The method of implementing the commitment to reduce class contact time is a matter for education authorities to determine. This information is not collected centrally.

Teenage Pregnancies

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many girls under 16 have given birth in total and in each NHS board area in each of the last five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: Comprehensive information on teenage pregnancies and their outcome is published by the Information and Statistics Division of National Health Services Scotland and is available electronically at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pContentID=2106&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

Waste Water

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is with regard to the suitability of septic tanks for new housing developments in cases where restrictions imposed by Scottish Water prevent connection to the mains sewer

Johann Lamont: Where it is not practicable to connect to a public sewer, the disposal of waste water to a private septic tank or treatment plant is permitted under the Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations, provided this complies with the technical standards. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is responsible for ensuring that relevant environmental standards are met. Planning authorities should seek the views of the agency before coming to a decision on an application for planning permission.

Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made with regard to characterising wetlands under section 5 (1) and (2) of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has made funds available to initiate the characterisation of wetlands as required by the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003. This work is currently in its early stages, with the initial phase focusing on collating details from wetlands that have previously been surveyed. The resulting inventory will hold details of wetlands that are directly dependent on surface water bodies or ground water bodies.

Water Fluoridation

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has allocated to the British Fluoridation Society in the last year and what advice it has received from the society

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it funds any organisations that are opposed to fluoridation and, if so, how much funding it has allocated in the last year and what advice it has received from such organisations.

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it funds any organisations that offer impartial advice in respect of fluoridation and, if so, how much funding it has allocated in the last year and what advice it has received from such organisations.

Mr Andy Kerr: The British Fluoridation Society is receiving grant of £10,000 in 2004-05 under section 16B of the National Health Services (Scotland) Act 1978. The society is a source of information on fluoridation issues, from which the Executive and other bodies or individuals can draw as appropriate. The Executive does not provide grant assistance to any other organisations with a specific focus on fluoridation.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Parliamentary Staff

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many members of staff are employed at grade (a) 5, (b) 6, (c) 7 and (d) 8, giving job titles and remits.

Duncan McNeil (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): This information is not held in an easily accessible format and to provide an answer to this question would have a significant impact on resources within the Personnel Office. I would be happy to discuss your specific concerns to establish whether there is a more cost effective means of providing the information you require.